During which era, did Job live?

The Bible does not mention the exact era of Job’s life but there are several clues that reveal the time in which he lived:

1-Job lived after the flood. Eliphaz, his friend and also his accuser, gave us a clue to this fact. Eliphaz asked: “Will you keep to the old way which wicked men have trod, who were cut down before their time, whose foundations were swept away by a flood?” (ch. 22:16).

2-Job lived during the Patriarchal era because the life span of his life was rather long and matched the life span of the patriarchal people who lived around 2200 B.C (Genesis 11:22-23). For before his trial, he had 10 adult children. Then, after his trial, he married and God blessed him with 10 more children and double the riches he had before (ch. 42:10-13). And the Bible adds: “After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So, Job died, old and full of days” (ch. 42:10-17). Thus, it seems that he lived at least 200 years or more.

3-Job lived before the Mosaic era because his book does not mention of the Levitical priesthood, the temple, or the Law of Moses. Like the patriarch Abraham (Genesis 8:20; 12:7-8; 31:54), he offered up sacrifices to God on behalf of his family (ch. 1:5) as the head of his clan.

4-Another indication that Job lived in the Patriarch era is that his riches were measured by livestock and not by money (ch. 1:3; 42:12). Later during the Mosaic era, people used coins more frequently for trading.

5-Also another pointer that Job lived during the patriarchal era is that unlike the era of the Mosaic law that gave inheritance to daughters only when there were no males sons, he gave his daughters “an inheritance among their brothers” (ch. 42:15).

A closing message from BibleAsk:

Thank you for visiting BibleAsk – an online ministry dedicated to providing Bible based answers to your questions. If you enjoyed and agree with this answer, please like and share! If you don’t agree, please leave a comment below, and we’ll be sure to respond! If you have another question you would like to ask, please click here and someone from our team will personally answer it (don’t worry, your email address will never be shared). Check out our Bible Answers page to see just Bible verses answering thousands of questions. If you feel impressed to support this ministry, kindly visit our donate page to send a tax-deductible love gift to BibleAsk. Any donation size helps 🙂